title: An analysis of error rates for disc agar-diffusion testing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa versus aminoglycosides.
abstract: Five hundred thirty-five recent clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were tested in parallel by the standardized disc agar-diffusion test and a micro-broth dilution test to evaluate the error rates associated with the use of both fixed indeterminate-zone breakpoints and floating indeterminate-zone breakpoints for assessing susceptibility to amikacin, gentamicin, and tobramycin. Error rate-bound analysis showed that unacceptably high rates of error were associated with the use of all fixed breakpoints. Error rates were improved when the floating indeterminate-zone principle was used, but rates still remained unacceptably high. These findings indicate the disc agar-diffusion test should not be used for testing the susceptibility of P. aeruginosa to the aminoglycosides.
mesh_terms: D000583:Amikacin / Q000494:pharmacology; D000617:Aminoglycosides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005839:Gentamicins / Q000494:pharmacology; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000379:methods*; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000187:drug effects*; D014031:Tobramycin / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000617:Aminoglycosides; D005839:Gentamicins; D000583:Amikacin; D014031:Tobramycin